2023’s third-person shooter action role-playing video game Remnant 2 has received its much-anticipated second DLC and fans are loving the changes it brings. Remnant 2: The Forgotten Kingdom was released worldwide on April 23, 2024, nine months after the release of the base game and five following its first DLC.
The latest DLC brings about a significant number of newer features and content into the mix. It brings players back to the world of Yaesha, with a new story, items, bosses, and weapons. Besides, the developers, Gunfire Games, made sure to take notes from the reception of the first DLC, Awakened King, to enhance the second expansion.
Remnant 2 Awakened King DLC was an experiment
Similar to Awakened King, the overworld in the Forgotten Kingdom is not procedurally generated. However, the dungeons are. The makers revealed this approach was used to allow the world to be a critical storytelling component. However, the overworld in the second expansion features living and breathing story elements that enhance the immersion as well as the narrative of the game.
In a recent interview with Windows Central, Cindy To, the Principal Level Designer, explained,
“With the environment, just like our first DLC, we wanted to make sure the environments we were creating were well represented in the story.”
Similarly, Ben Cureton, the Principal Designer for Remnant 2, added,
“The first [DLC] was a bit of an experiment. We wanted to see what kind of storytelling we could do with the environment while still maintaining some of that procedural generation within dungeons and what’s behind each door and things like that. People really seemed to dig that. So we’re continuing it in this one by having a memorable overworld.”
When playing Forgotten Kingdom, players will notice this difference. Awakened King had a memorable storyboard that allowed the players to be a part of the overworld.
Instead of the story taking place through cutscenes, players could see the story happening around them.
Remnant 2 Forgotten Kingdom takes notes from Awakened King
While cutscenes are still seen in The Forgotten Kingdom, wherein they occur before significant fights and story elements, the developers have found more creative routes to express their tales in the second expansion. It does not solely rely on cutscenes to be the narrative driver. Instead, the world exploration and moments that lead to gunfights are also a part of the story and the narrative.
On returning to Yaesha in The Forgotten Kingdom, players are likely to observe a noticeable change in the environment. The environment uses a more vibrant and enchanting color palette compared to the previous DLC. The celebration of colors offers a unique and diverse look that seems to be both familiar as well as fresh.
The Principal Level Designer said,
“We really wanted to explore a more vibrant color palette. It’s this beautiful, almost vial luminescence-style jungle. For those who are very familiar with Yaesha lore, there were mentions of the living stone. So those creatures were just like a snippet that we showed off in the base game. We’re in a civilization where tons of living stone creatures have been lying dormant for many years. Clearly, your arrival has disturbed the presence of these dormant creatures.”
Apart from the storytelling and the visually enthralling environment, The Forgotten Kingdom DLC also introduces a new Archetype named the Invoker.
The archetype makes use of the spiritual magic of the world of Yaesha.
